Under the Influence
by Nicole11
Summary: Fate, and an abusive boyfriend, draws Hermione to Draco. And she finds out that he isnt who he use to be. Literally. ***I UPDATED CH. 4 AGAIN, SOMETHING IMPORTENT WAS ADDED***
1. Bad Reaction

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. J. K. Rowling owns all of it. I just own the plot, which is a questionable thing all it's own.  
  
NOTE!: This is the summer of Hermione's sixth year. She will be going into seventh year. Her and Ron are going out.  
  
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Chapter 1: Bad Reaction  
  
Hermione sat at the kitchen table in The Burrow, nervously looking at the clock. It was nearly eleven o'clock. Ron would be home any second. She had to tell him. He had a right to know. But how would he react?  
  
Hermione sighed anxiously and bit her bottom lip. Just then, the front door opened and Ron stumbled in.  
  
"Hey Mione, whacha wanna talk 'bout?" Ron asked, slurring his words. His eyes looked bloodshot, and he was swaying on the spot.  
  
Oh shit. Hermione thought to herself. He's drunk. She couldn't say she was too surprised, though. Ron had gone out with the twins, and he always came home like this after they partied.  
  
"Ron, there's something I have to tell you." Hermione said slowly, choosing her words carefully. Ron leaned against the wall, and looked at her strangely. Hermione sighed and stood up, pacing back and forth.  
  
"Spit it out." Ron said. Hermione stopped pacing and stood right in front of him.  
  
"I'm..... I'm pregnant." Hermione whispered, glancing up at Ron with a scared look on her face.  
  
"What!?" Ron yelled, his words not slurred anymore. His face was red and he started pacing, mumbling to himself. "You're going to take care of it right?"  
  
Hermione's heart stopped. She knew what he meant. He wanted her to get an abortion.  
  
"Of course not!" She said, louder then she intended too. "Ron, it's our responsibility."  
  
"Oh no it's not!" Ron yelled, still pacing. "Damnit Hermione, if you just would have taking the fucking birth control pills-"  
  
"It's not just my fault." Hermione said softly, starting to get frightened by Ron's behavior.  
  
"You are not doing this to me!" Ron screamed, stopping his pacing in front of Hermione.  
  
"Ron, just listen a second, okay?" She started, but Ron rounded on her and slapped her across the face.  
  
"Don't fucking tell me what to do!" He yelled. Ron raised his hand to slap her again, but Hermione grabbed his wrist. Ron shook his hand free and shoved Hermione into the wall.  
  
Hermione crashed into the wall and fell to the ground, knocking the wind out of her so she couldn't even scream. She quickly grabbed her stomach, hoping that it didn't hurt the baby. Ron noticed this movement and scoffed.  
  
"Why are you worrying, you're going to get an abortion anyways." He laughed.  
  
"No I'm not!" Hermione yelled, starting to stand up again. Ron just pushed her back down.  
  
"Don't fucking talk back to me!" Ron yelled. Hermione got back up as he started pacing again, seeming to be looking for something around the kitchen. He kept muttering, "If you're not going to take care of it, then I am."  
  
Hermione pushed her back against the wall, absolutely terrified by Ron's behavior. He was roughly opening up all the drawers in the kitchen. Suddenly, he seemed to have found what he was looking for. Ron looked up at Hermione, and she could see an insane gleam in his bloodshot eyes. Her heart beat stopped and her knees weakened when she saw him pull a knife out of one of the drawers.  
  
"Ron, w-what are you doing?" Hermione whispered, wanting to run but her legs wouldn't work.  
  
"I'm fixing what you fucked up!" Ron yelled, advancing toward her. Hermione finally found the feeling in her legs and started to try and get away. Before she even took a step, Ron started punching her with his free hand.  
  
Hermione tried to block the punches, but they all came too fast. She just had to stand there and try not to fall to the ground as Ron beat her. Hermione closed her eyes and screamed for him to stop.  
  
When Ron finally stopped, Hermione tried to recover from shock and pain. But before she could, another pain entered her body, in her stomach. Hermione screamed with agony and opened her eyes as they filled with tears.  
  
Ron was standing in front of her with a smile on his face. Victory flashed him his eyes. He was holding up a knife that was dripping with Hermione's blood. Before he could stab her again, Hermione kicked him as hard as she could in his groin.  
  
Ron doubled over in pain, and cursed loudly.  
  
"Fucking bitch! I'm gonna kill you!" Ron yelled, holding his stomach and trying not to fall over. Hermione, trying to ignore the piercing pain him her stomach, tried to run out of the house. Wanting to be anywhere but in that house, with her boyfriend. She ran past Ron, and he tried to grab her leg from where he was, still doubled over.  
  
Hermione stumbled past him, using all her strength to dash out the door and run for help. Her vision started blurring and she couldn't think straight. Hermione didn't know what she was going to do, or where she was going. It was too dark to tell. And the pain in her stomach was making it impossible to run. Hermione tripped and fell onto the grass. But she was convinced that Ron was following her, so she crawled as fast as she could to a nearby forest. Hermione knew that Ron would never find her in the thick trees.  
  
Hermione stagger over roots that obstructed her path. She held one hand over the cut in her stomach, and used the other to push stray branches out of her way. Hermione slowed her run to a jog as she got farther into the woods. She looked down at the hand that was covering her cut, and saw that it was now completely red with her blood. She finally stopped walking when her vision because so blurry from tears and pain, that she couldn't see where she was going.  
  
A sleepy feeling came over Hermione, and the only thing she could feel was the piercing pain in her side. Before she fainted, Hermione prayed that her baby was alright, and that she wouldn't die.  
  
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A/N: RRRRRRRRREEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW! 


	2. Finders Keepers

Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling own everything except the plot. That just so happens to be mine.  
  
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Chapter 2: Finders Keepers  
  
Draco Malfoy strolled carelessly through the forest that was behind his house. He did this whenever he needed time to think... or time way from his family. Which was often. Draco usually took joy in shooting down birds with his slingshot and a few rocks, but not anymore. He had too much on his mind to be killing innocent animals. Plus, it was nearly midnight, so no animals were out.  
  
Draco was just beginning to think about his problems, when he saw something you normally don't see in a forest; a body. His heart stopped and he broke out into a cold sweat. He ran as fast as he could to the body that lay motionless on the dirt covered ground. As he got closer, he could see that the body was a girl, and there was a pool of blood beneath her. Draco sprinted toward the girl and fell down in exhaustion when he reached her.  
  
The girls shirt was soaked with blood and she was pale. When Draco rolled the girls body over, so he could see her face, he recognized her.  
  
"Granger...?" Draco whispered. He carefully picked up her limp body and ran back to his house.  
Hermione woke a little while later. Everything ached and she couldn't move. She slowly opened her eyes, and found herself in a rather dreary house that she had never seen before. Panic swept over her. Hermione tried to sit up, but a shooting pain ran across her stomach. So she laid back down on the couch she was on.  
  
"Good, you're up." Came a voice that was oddly familiar to Hermione. She quickly turned her head and looked for where the voice was coming from. In the doorway was none other then Draco Malfoy. Hermione's heart dropped and dread filled her body.  
  
"Wha-what am I doing here?" Hermione asked weakly. All of her strength seem to be gone.  
  
"Shhh..." Draco said softly, kneeling down next to the couch where Hermione was. "Calm down. A doctors coming." Since he was so close to her, she could see that his shirt was soaked with blood. Hers, no doubt.  
  
"What am I doing here?" Hermione repeated again, not liking that Malfoy had placed his hand on her arm. But before he could even open his mouth, there was a little pop, and a doctor appeared.  
  
The doctor introduced himself as Dr. Lucas. He sat next to the couch Hermione was laying on, and had her lift up her shirt so he could see the cut. It actually looked a lot worse then Hermione thought. Below her bellybutton, and slightly to the side, was a cut that was a few inches long, and very deep. Blood was streaming all over her stomach.  
  
The doctor waved his wand, and a small x-ray machine appeared. He did a couple of tests on Hermione's stomach, making her flinch whenever he touched the cut.  
  
"It looks like the knife punctured your uterus." Dr. Lucas said. Hermione's heart stopped.  
  
"Is-is the baby okay?" Hermione asked. Draco, who was standing off to the side, looked a little shocked.  
  
"I'm afraid the baby's dead." Dr. Lucas said gloomily. Hermione stayed silent, and bit her lip so that tears wouldn't fall. The doctor waved his wand and said, "I fixed up your uterus, and the baby is gone." He tapped her stomach again, and the cut vanished. "You'll be sore for a few more days." He waved his wand at the x-ray machine and it vanished. Putting on his cloak, he said, "I'm very sorry about your baby." and was gone.  
  
Once the doctor was gone, Draco turned to Hermione.  
  
"Does anything else hurt?" He asked softly, walking toward her again and kneeling by the couch.  
  
"No...." Hermione lied. She wasn't comfortable with her worst enemy helping her in anyway. Draco put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. Hermione let out a cry of pain and recoiled from his touch.  
  
"I knew it." Draco said with a smirk. He put his hand on the neckline of her shirt, and pulled it off of one shoulder. A blue and black bruise the size of a baseball was on Hermione's arm, and Draco flinched when he saw it.  
  
"Are there any others?" He asked gently, looking in her eyes. Hermione nodded and looked at the ground. Draco reached out his hand again, but she pulled her body away from him.  
  
"Come on Granger, I promise I won't hurt you." He said quietly. Hermione reluctantly nodded, and pulled her shirt up over her head. She sat there in her white bra, and looked away from her body. She didn't want to see what kind of damage Ron did to her.  
  
The reaction from Draco was enough. He gasped and muttered, "Oh my God." He quickly grabbed his wand and started doing spells to make the bruises disappear. Draco touched Hermione's back where a bruise had just vanished. Shivers went up and down her spine. But they were good shivers. The kind she use to get when she would brush up against Ron.  
  
"You can sleep in one of our spare bedrooms." Draco said as Hermione put her shirt back on.  
  
"Where are your parents?" She asked.  
  
"My Father is..." Draco started, his eyes darting around the room. "away on business." He decided. "And Mother's with him." Hermione nodded, and followed Draco upstairs to her room. He handed her  
  
Hermione paused in the doorway of her temporary room, and looked back at Draco. Draco handed her a long tee shirt of his for her to wear. Since her clothes were covered in blood.  
  
"Thank you for..." She said, searching for the words.  
  
"No problem." Draco said with a small smile. Hermione smiled back, and closed her door. She looked at the room she would be staying in, and could tell that she was in the Malfoy manor.  
  
The room alone seemed to be bigger then Hermione's whole house. But it was very dark and scary. The walls were a dark blue and there were things on the desk that Hermione was sure had something to do with the Dark Arts. Most of the walls, however, were covered by books. But these weren't the type of books Hermione wanted to read. Some were covered in chains, and some had titles in different languages. But the title that she could read, said things like, "How to Cast Curses and Blame It on Unsuspecting Mudbloods" "101 Ways to Kill a Muggle" and "Being Evil for Dummies." Though these titles were rather humorous, Hermione was still afraid to snoop through them. Just incase, somehow, Lucius found out.  
  
Hermione changed into the Draco's long tee shirt, and slipped under the covers. But she couldn't sleep. Once Hermione's mind wasn't distracted by the pain in her stomach, it wandered to Ron and why he wanted to kill their baby.  
  
He was drunk. Hermione told herself. He didn't know what he was doing. He never does when he's like that.  
  
But Hermione's heart literally ached when she thought about the baby. She had known about it for a few months, and had even picked out a few names for it. Anna if it was a girl, and Daniel if it was a boy. She had been too scared to tell Ron. And Hermione mentally kicked herself several times for deciding to tell him about the baby when he was drunk.  
  
This thought brought tears to her eyes, and Hermione sobbed into her pillow. If she would have just waited until Ron was sober, then the baby wouldn't be dead.  
  
Hermione didn't know how loud she was crying until she heard her door creek open. She looked up from her tear stained pillow, and could see a blurry Malfoy through her watery eyes. Hermione blushed with embarrassment, and muttered an incoherent apology.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked with concern, walking over to her bed.  
  
Hermione didn't even try to hide her misery, she just sobbed harder and tried to explain.  
  
"My baby's dead." She cried, burying her face in her pillow again and making it hard for Draco to hear her. "And it's all my fault."  
  
"Don't you dare even think that." Draco said firmly but sympathetically. "Don't blame yourself because Wealsey's mental."  
  
"But it's not Ron's fault." Hermione wept. "If I would have waited until he was sober... I should have known that he would react badly... he always does when he's drunk." Hermione was so numb from cry that she didn't even notice Malfoy claiming under the covers with her and laying next to her, with his arm around her shoulder.  
  
He rubbed her back and cautiously asked, "Has Weasley done things to you before... when he was drunk...?"  
  
Hermione seemed to be holding her breath, not allowing herself to let it out until she decided how to answer that question. "Yes." Hermione finally said. "But it was my own fault." She added quickly. Her crying was over, and she seemed to really believe what she was saying.  
  
"What has he done to you before?" Draco demanded, trying not to sound threatening.  
  
"I just don't listen sometimes..." Hermione said, looking down at her hands. "I'll nag him or something, and don't listen when he tells me to shut up. I annoy him when he's already aggravated..."  
  
"And what does he do?" Draco asked forcefully.  
  
"He... hits me." Hermione said, glancing up at Draco's shocked face. "But he only does it when he drunk or annoyed." She reassured him. "He says he's sorry afterwards."  
  
Draco scoffed darkly and said, "And I bet he tells you he loves you afterwards, and buys you things until you forgive him, right?"  
  
"...yes." Hermione said, feeling a little embarrassed as he scoffed again and shook his head.  
  
"Granger, you can't let him manipulate you." Draco said, looking Hermione right in the eye.  
  
"He's not manip-" Hermione started loudly.  
  
"Listen! I know what I'm talking about!" Draco yelled. Both of them were sitting up in bed. "That is exactly how my father treated my mother." Hermione fell silent. "You can't live like that. In fear. It's not love, Hermione." Draco whispered. Hermione was surprised that he called her by her first name. But the next thing Malfoy said drove that out of her mind. "If you don't get out of that relationship, something worse will happen." He said with new concern and Hermione had never seen before. "You could... die."  
  
"Ron would never to that..." Hermione whispered.  
  
"When he's sober." Draco said. "But what about when he isn't thinking straight? What about when you accidentally push his buttons?" He voice was growing louder then the whisper it had been. "What about when he *stabs* you and you nearly *die* on my couch?"  
  
"...You're right..." Hermione whispered, shaking her head as new tears fell down her face.  
  
Draco didn't say anything. He just wrapped her in a hug and whispered "Shhhhh....." and "It's okay..." in her ear.  
  
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A/N: Wow... intense... I hope. I didn't mean to, but I kinda had a little lesson in there (omg! My fics are turning into 'Full House'!!! AHHHHH!!!). It was about how manipulative abusive boyfriends (and girlfriends) can be. And how blind the person who is getting abused is. PLEASE REVIEW and tell me if I described enough! I'm really trying to work on that! 


	3. Breakfast

Disclaimer: I tHoUgHt I wOuLd MaKe ThIs InTeReStInG By HaViNg EvErY OtHeR LeTtEr CaPiTaLiZeD. Do YoU kNoW HoW HaRd ThIs Is? REALLY HARD!!!!!! Anyways, J. K. Rowling owns this.  
  
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Chapter 3: Breakfast  
  
An hour later, after Hermione had calmed down, Draco told her goodnight and went back to bed. As much as Hermione didn't want to admit it, she actually felt comforted when around Malfoy. The thought of him calling her 'Hermione' instead of 'Granger' or, even worse, 'Mudblood' had completely left her mind once she fell asleep. The only thing Hermione could think about was wondering where she was going to stay. Ron's house was obviously out of the question, and her parents were on vacation in Hawaii. Harry lived with the Dursleys, and, after the stories Harry told about them, Hermione didn't even want to be on the same street as that family.  
  
As she walked downstairs, still in the big tee shirt Draco gave her, the sweet smell pancakes met Hermione's nose. She could hear the bacon sizzling in it's pan as she walked into the kitchen. But the sight that met her eyes, turned her stomach.  
  
"A house elf?!" Hermione said in disgust as she sat herself next to Malfoy at the kitchen table.  
  
"She has a name." Draco teased, looking up at an annoyed Hermione from the newspaper he was reading. "Lizzy?" he bellowed toward the house elf as she was adding more bacon to the skillet. "Can you get me some orange juice please?"  
  
"Of course Mr. Malfoy." Lizzy replied in a squeaky voice as she practically ran to the refrigerator. Lizzy was back in a matter of seconds with Draco's orange juice and two plates of pancakes and bacon. Hermione pushed her full plate away from herself and crossed her arms.  
  
"Don't tell me you're not eating just because a house elf made it." Draco sighed as he poured maple syrup on his pancakes.  
  
"It's slave labor!" Hermione said loudly, turning her nose up.  
  
"Is there something wrong with the food Ms.?" Lizzy asked, looking up at Hermione with big puppy-dog eyes.  
  
"Oh no! No." She reassured the house elf. "It's just... I...."  
  
"She's too good for food made by a house elf." Draco said with a smirk. Lizzy's lip quivered and her big, tennis ball eyes filled with tears. Hermione looked helplessly from the house elf, to the food, and back again. She quickly stuffed three pieces of bacon in her mouth. Hermione made a few 'mmm' noises and rubbed her stomach. Lizzy smiled and quickly left the room.  
  
"I can' belief you're makin' me do fhis." Hermione muttered through a mouthful of bacon, making Draco laugh.  
  
Hermione finished her breakfast quickly and reached for the Daily Prophet that was lying face down on the kitchen table. Draco's hand slapped down on top of hers, and their eyes quickly locked.  
  
"What?" Hermione asked, furrowing her brow. "I don't get this paper at my house. I just wanted to see what's happening in the wizarding world."  
  
"I'm... not done with it." Draco said quickly, grabbing the paper from under Hermione's hand. He stood up and held the news paper behind his back. Draco dropped the Daily Prophet in the trashcan, and mumbled something before he ran up the stairs.  
  
Hermione looked after him for a while, puzzled. She shook her head and picked up a magazine on the table.  
After about fifteen minutes of reading the Quidditch magazine, Hermione had had enough. Quidditch was fun and all, but it was suicide to read about. She sighed loudly as she started up the stairs for the bathroom. As soon as Hermione opened the bathroom door, mist rushed out of the door. And before she could close it again, she saw something that made her scream. Draco in a towel.  
  
"What the hell...?!" Draco screamed, quickly grabbing the towel that was around his waist, as if afraid it would fall off.  
  
"I'm... I'm sorry." Hermione stammered. It was really hard to concentrate when there was a nearly-naked Malfoy standing right in front of her. But, she had to admit, he did look good.  
  
Draco cleared his throat, noticing that Hermione's eyes were dancing along the rim of his towel. Her eyes quickly shot up from where they had been, and her cheeks flushed.  
  
"Sorry." Hermione said again. "I didn't know you were in here." There was a rather uncomfortable silence that followed, as both of them stared at the ground.  
  
"So," Hermione muttered. "I was just wondering, since I don't have any other clothes, if we could maybe go shopping today?" she asked hopefully, looking at Malfoy. "We can go to Diagon Alley, I need to get my school things anyway."  
  
"Sure." Draco said, shifting his weight a little. Hermione smiled and quickly left.  
  
"Real smooth Hermione." She told herself, mentally hitting herself. Not only did she see Malfoy in a towel, but she actually liked what she saw. Hermione shivered a little, and tried to get that thought out of her head.  
Hermione and Draco spent about an hour shopping, and Hermione came home with a bag full of new clothes, plus a couple more bags filled with her new school things. Hermione threw her bags onto the living room couch, and looked back up at Draco.  
  
"Thanks again for letting me stay here." She said honestly.  
  
"No problem." Draco said with a smile.  
  
"When are your parents getting home, anyways?" Hermione asked. She noticed that Draco's smile faltered.  
  
"Ummmm, they won't be home for a while." He said with a nervous laugh. "You know how business trips are." Draco smiled weakly, but Hermione didn't smile back. She was looking at him strangely.  
  
"Draco," she said slowly. "where are your parents?" Draco opened his mouth and Hermione quickly added, "And don't give me any of that 'business trip' crap, because I know that you're lying." Draco sighed in defeat, and sat down on the couch. Hermione did the same, and looked at his face, which was directed toward the ground.  
  
"My father isn't on a trip." Draco said slowly. "He's.... in Azkaban."  
  
"...What...?" Hermione whispered.  
  
"My father's in Azkaban...." Draco repeated, looking up into Hermione's eyes. "...because of me."  
  
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A/N: Cliffhanger (I hope)!!!!!! Please REVIEW and I will tell you why Draco's daddy is in Azkaban! 


	4. Explanation

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, so just leave me alone!!!!!  
  
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Chapter 4: Explanation  
  
"Your father's in... Azkaban?" Hermione asked quietly. She didn't find this as much of a surprise, Lucius Malfoy had always been on the dark side. But what did Draco have to do with his father going to jail. "Why?"  
  
"Because he tried to control my life." Draco said, laughing darkly.  
  
"I don't understand." Hermione said, feeling like she had missed something.  
  
Draco sighed and tried to explain. "Remember those curses Professor Moody taught us forth year?"  
  
"The Unforgivable Curses." Hermione said, still very confused.  
  
"Yeah, well, there was one were someone has total control over another person." Draco said, taking a deep breath.  
  
"The Imperius Curse." Hermione said. Draco laughed a little. Of course Hermione knew what curse it was. It was in a book, wasn't it? "You're father put that curse on you?" She asked, concern in her voice and expression.  
  
".... yeah." Draco said softly. Hermione had to strain her ears to hear him. "It all started when I was stupid enough to tell my father that I didn't want to be a Death Eater." He said. Hermione tried to catch his eyes, but Draco focused on the floor. "Before I went to Hogwarts, I told my father that I wasn't going to turn out like him. I didn't want to be in Slytherin, and I didn't want to be a follower of Voldemort. But he was determined to have me be like him. So, he put the curse over me, and controlled what I did and what I said."  
  
"How long has he been doing it for?" Hermione asked cautiously. She knew that this must be a sensitive subject.  
  
"Since first year. My father wanted me to get a reputation. So that I could never live it down, and would be forced to join him and Voldemort." Hermione could see the hurt in Draco's eyes. But he tried to hide it.  
  
"So, all of the horrible things you have done and said in the past five years, it's been your father?" Hermione asked, a little confused, but still trying to sound like she believed him.  
  
"You have no idea how hard it was to listen to myself be horrible to everyone, and not being able to control it." Draco said defensively, his voice cracking a little, showing his emotions. "I had to watch myself, everyday, hurting other people who had done *nothing* to me. I hated everyone for not liking me, and I hated myself for making it that way."  
  
"But it wasn't you. It was your father." Hermione reminded him, rubbing his back in a comforting way. "Isn't there a way to break the curse?" She tried to catch Draco's eyes, but he turned the other way.  
  
"I was too weak to break it. My father is a powerful wizard, and I just stopped caring after a while." Draco said. The truthfulness in his voice scared Hermione. "My mother finally found the courage to tell the Ministry. They came to arrest him the next day, and by then, my mother fled. She was so afraid that my father was going to find out that she told the Ministry." Draco's voice was just above a whisper. Hermione remembered the first night that she had gotten to the Malfoy Manor. Draco told her that his father use to beat his mother. "I have to go to his trial in a month. If he's convicted for using an Unforgivable Curse, then he'll get the Demonator Kiss." Although Hermione could tell that Draco hated his father, she knew that he would never wish that on anyone.  
  
Hermione wrapped her arms around Draco. He returned the hug, and melted into her arms. All of the pain, anger, and sadness that Draco felt toward his father was let out. He tried hard to muffle his cries, but finally felt comfortable enough to just let himself go.  
  
The boy that was crying on Hermione's shoulder wasn't the Malfoy she had known and hated for the past five years. That had never been him. Malfoy, the bully that teased her and her friends everyday at Hogwarts had vanished, and Draco had appeared. It was as if his ego had shrunken down to the size of a penny, and he was finally human. He was so small and so alone and in so much pain that all Hermione could feel toward him was love. She tried to fill him with it, until he was busting at the seams. She tried to pack his mind with thoughts of how he didn't need to be afraid anymore. He was no longer forced to hide who he was, and didn't need to hate himself. Malfoy was gone, and Draco came to take his place. And Hermione prayed to the gods that he wouldn't leave again. Because she needed him for support, just like he needed her.  
  
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A/N: Really short, I know. But I am in totally writers block mode, and need to sort some things out. I just figured that it had been forever since I updated with this story, so I felt obligated to write more. 


	5. The Real Draco

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. Call J. K. Rowling if you have a problem with this story, cause its all hers.  
  
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Chapter 5: The Real Draco  
  
Ever since the day Draco had opened up to her, Hermione had tried to be more caring toward him. They weren't great friends, no matter how much Hermione wanted them to be. She could see how alone and depressed Draco was. His father was in jail and his mother had abandoned him. He didn't really have any friends at Hogwarts. Just a bunch of slimy Slytherins who'd turn their backs on him in a second. The only person he had was her, but Hermione couldn't bring herself to forget the six years of torture he'd caused her. She had been kind toward him in a sort of thank you for saving her life. But she was fed up with being kind to someone who constantly made fun of her at school. She'd never admit it, but she held everything that Lucius did against Draco.  
  
And it didn't help that Draco had gone back to his old ways the day after he'd opened up. He'd sensed her resentment toward him and hated her for it. So he went back to being a bastard, as if punishing her for not understanding the rules of forgive and forget. But the tension of the hatred started to build and, with only the two of them in the house (not counting the house elves) there wasn't anyone there to stop them from killing each other.  
  
Hermione walked downstairs the next day for breakfast in her pajamas. She'd thrown her hair up into a very messy pony tail, not feeling like dealing with the amount of frizz it was producing. She turned the corner into the kitchen and threw a disapproving glance at the house elf that was slaving over a stove. But she didn't say anything, knowing that it wouldn't effect anything no matter how much she complained.  
  
"'Morning." Hermione muttered at Draco, who was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the Daily Prophet. She sat down across from him, and glared at Draco when he didn't even acknowledge her presence. "...hello?" she asked, waving her hand in front of his face and rolling her eyes when he didn't respond. "Didn't your father teach you any manners." She sighed. Draco's head jerked up, glaring at Hermione.  
  
"Shut up, you stupid Mudblood." He spat. Hermione didn't even bother to look taken aback, even though she was. She'd thought that he was better then that, even if they weren't friends.  
  
Hermione glared at him and stood up from her seat. "I knew you wouldn't change. And, you know what? I don't believe your bullshit story." She turned to leave, but Draco grabbed her arm.  
  
"What?" He demanded, grasping her arm very tightly. Hermione yanked her arm out of his grip.  
  
"I said I don't believe your story about your dad possessing you." Hermione said, glaring at Draco.  
  
"He didn't posses me." Draco argued. "He put a curse over me and controlled-"  
  
"I. Don't. Believe. It." Hermione said slowly as if Draco was rather dense. "You're still the same horrible person you were before." She spat. Draco stayed silent, but that didn't stop him for glaring daggers at Hermione. "I think you're just trying to make some excuse for being the terrible person you are. Well, you know what? I'm not buying it. You've always been like this."  
  
"Like what?" Draco demanded.  
  
"Well, lets start with you insisting on calling me a Mudblood." Hermione said loudly. "Just because you have an all wizard family doesn't mean you should degrade people who don't. It's not a crime to have muggle parents." She said, not allowing herself to let out any emotion besides anger. "You've been horrible your whole life-"  
  
"Have you ever considered that maybe I don't know any other way to act?" Draco shouted, cutting Hermione off and leaving her with a startled look on her face. "After not being myself for six years, I don't even know who I am anymore. I don't know how I'm suppose to act because it feels like I've had my father acting for me my whole life. I don't know anything about myself. All I know about me is that I'm an exact clone of my father. And you have no idea how terrifying that thought is." Hermione looked at the ground, not able to stare Draco in the face because of the shame she felt for being so horrible to him when he was so confused and so lost. "I don't know how I'm suppose to act. So I act like I have for the past six years. I've been an ass because I don't know if the real me is suppose to be like that or not."  
  
After a long, uncomfortable silence, Hermione raised her head to speak.  
  
"You're not like your father." Hermione told him. Draco scoffed and didn't look at all convinced. "I'm serious. I can tell that you're not like him. You're kidding yourself if you think that you're half as horrible as Lucius Malfoy."  
  
"Oh really. And how would you know?" Draco sneered.  
  
"Because Lucius Malfoy wouldn't have helped a Mudblood." Hermione said quietly, letting the statement linger in the air for a few moments.  
  
"How do you know that was me?" Draco asked stubbornly. "How do you know that I wasn't just going through some identity crisis and trying to see if the real me was suppose to be like that."  
  
"Why did you do it?" Hermione asked, ignoring everything Draco had just said.  
  
"What the hell does that have to do with-" Draco started.  
  
"Why did you help me?" Hermione asked forcefully. Draco sighed and looked up at the ceiling in thought.  
  
"I donno.... I mean, I couldn't just leave you there to die." he said very defensively. "I'd feel to guilty if I did."  
  
"See?" Hermione said with a small smile. "It was your conscience. That's the only part of you that can distinguish if you are good or bad. A person like your father would have left me there without a second thought. But the fact that your conscience told you that it would be wrong to leave me there, tells me that you're nothing like Lucius."  
  
Draco stood and pondered this for a few minutes. A small smile tugged at his lips, but he refused to let it out.  
  
"So who am I then?" He finally asked.  
  
"I donno." Hermione said truthfully, watching Draco's face fall a little. "But we'll find out with time."  
  
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Sorry so short! I'll try to make the next one longer. 


End file.
